One Year
by filesfreak4life
Summary: Lucas goes to leave Peyton at the hotel room in LA, but something stops him. Leyton fluffiness...
1. A Long Engagement

He stood over her agonizing over the decision that was tumbling around in that head of his, leaving her there without a word of goodbye, or waiting until she woke to talk it all over again. As he saw the gentle rise and fall of her chest and the dent between her eyebrows showing that even in her dreams she was torn, he made his decision. It was what he thought was best.

As he bent down to kiss her temple he thought to himself that maybe she had been right about it being too soon, and allowed himself a moment to second guess the decision to walk out. Was she really saying no to him ever, or was it just wanting a little more time?

It was the whispered, watery, "Lucas...don't..." as he was grabbing his suitcase that caused him to turn around.

"Peyton, I can't do this right now."

"If you can't do this, then you aren't the man that I thought you were Lucas Scott. The Lucas Scott that I know... God the Lucas that I love does not leave without a goodbye," she says, not angry, but quietly as she sits up on the bed, facing his retreating form.

"It's too hard..."

"And this emotional roller coaster that you and I have been on for the past what four years has been easy?!" She replies, allowing her voice to have more of the strength that he loved from her. "Please talk to me Lucas!"

"Why did you say no?"

She stands up and takes his hands in hers, looking into his eyes for a moment before giving her explanation, "Lucas, I want to marry you more than anything in the world... I do, and you know that. I just want a chance out here first, and I thought that you would understand that."

"Peyton, I told you last night that I would move here to be with you in L.A."

"And I told you that you would grow to resent me for that. You have so much waiting for you back home now. I don't want you giving that up to come here with me. So we are at the same place where we were last night."

"Then I don't know what to do but to say goodbye..."

He turns to walk out again, but as his hand reaches for the door knob she utters a simple "No."

"I..."

"A long engagement..."

"What?"

"If me not putting that ring on my finger makes you think that I don't love you and that I don't want to marry you, then I'm saying yes right now, and we have a long engagement."

"Because you don't think that we can last?" he says, almost scoffing at the idea.

"No, because I want both of us to have the chance to try for our dreams from where we are, and I know we CAN last." she cries, allowing herself to sit, feeling almost defeated.

"Peyton, come on...we both know that this is running from us..."

"No, Luke... this is me trying to hold on to us. I know we can work. I want with all my heart for us to be together. I want to marry you.... but I want the chance to find out what I can do... and I really think that I can get that chance here."

She wasn't asking for much, and he would be lying if he said that she didn't stand behind him through anything that he did. She was the reason for so many of his successes, and he couldn't put that aside.

"How does this work?" he finally opens up, coming to kneel at her feet as she continues staring at the floor beside the bed.

"Well, why isn't it working now...I thought it was..."

"Oh Peyton, it is... I just miss you so much."

"And you don't think I miss you too? You don't think that an entire continent between us isn't hurting me as much as it is hurting you?"

"I just want what we had, and I feel like it is slipping away from us."

"People grow up Lucas, but they don't have to grow apart. You still know me...the real me. No one else does, and I don't think anyone else ever will."

"At least one weekend a month...together. We can alternate between Tree Hill and here."

"That sounds reasonable. And phone calls... more of them."

"Okay." he says, finally allowing a smile to cross his features.

"Okay," she says, nodding and bringing her lips to his in the sweetest of kisses.

"Do you really think that this is going to work?"

"I do. Luke from the moment we met it was inevitable that we would end up right here, with that question hanging on your lips. You know it, I know it, and everyone around us knows it. We just took awhile to figure it out."

"So, there's only one thing that we really do need to clear up about this arrangement." he says, standing up and going to his bag.

She stayed on the bed, confused and curious, but smiled as she saw what he got up to retrieve from that bag.

As he got back to where she was, he got back down on one knee, and opened the box he held in his hand. "Peyton, I realized last night that nothing matters without you next to me, and I love you for being that person in my life. I know that it hasn't been very easy the past few years, but it has made me love you that much more. So... Peyton Sawyer, will you marry me?.... in a year??" he says, adding a laugh at the last comment as he looks into her eyes and sees the tears sparkling there, threatening to spill over onto her cheek.

"God Luke, Yes... I will marry you, without a doubt in my mind, I will marry you..."

He slips the ring on her finger and the two seem to meld together in a tangle of clothed limbs, lips, and grasping touches. It wasn't until soon after the clothes had been discarded and they were wrapped up in each other that she took a moment to examine the ring on her finger.

"It's Karen's ring...Lucas... you shouldn't have given this...."

"It was my mom... I told her that I had been toying with the idea in my head for a while of proposing since I knew you were coming out for the championship. Two days after the conversation, the ring found its way to the mailbox, with a letter that said that you were the one, and she wouldn't want the ring to go on any other finger." he says, toying with the beautiful diamond that fit so delicately on her hand.

"That means the world to me, Luke, you know that, right?"

"I know, and you know what it means to me to give that ring to you..."

They share a fleeting kiss as they curl into each other again, letting their eyes finally slip shut after the emotionally draining evening and morning the two had shared.

Their sleep, however, was interrupted by the shrill ringing of Lucas' phone, still in the pocket of his coat. As he reached for the phone and saw that it was a number that he didn't recognize, he thought about not answering it and crawling back into bed with the woman he loves, but went against it and clicked that green button.

"Hello?"

"_Is this Lucas Scott?"_

"Um, yes, it is. Who is this?"

"_My Name is Lindsay Strauss, and I hope that I'm your new editor... that is if you'll have me."_

"Excuse me?"

"_I read your novel Lucas. I took it home with so many others this past weekend, and it spoke to me. It took a little pushing, but I convinced the higher ups that this would be a wonderful investment of their time and energy."_

Peyton had since sat up, curiosity getting the best of her, and wrapped herself in the sheet as she scooted close to Lucas, who had taken up residence on the end of the bed.

"Wait... you want to publish my novel?"

"_Yes, we do."_

"That's....wow... that's...."

"_I think that I have an idea, but you need to know that there is some work that needs to be done before the publication happens. A few tweaks here and there, a couple of long nights and fighting, but we'll get it there."_

"Thank you."

"_I'll have our people call you about setting up a time for you to come to New York so we can start work."_

Still stammering over the fact that his book was being published, he made a quick confirmation of her last comment and hung up on the voice of his soon-to-be editor, turning to face Peyton, who was waiting eagerly to hear the details of his conversation.

"They're publishing my novel..."

"Oh my GOD!!! Luke that's amazing!!!"

"I can't believe that they are going to publish it!"

"Oh, I do... Lucas, you poured your heart and soul into that book and it is amazing... and it is going to touch so many people."

"Wow..." he says, letting himself fall back onto the bed in disbelief, only focusing again when Peyton kissed his forehead and inquired if the weekend could get any better.

"Well, we have until Monday, so I guess we'll have to find out..."

"Indeed we will," she says, kissing him again, "I love you Lucas."

"Well... that's probably a good thing... since we're getting married."

"Probably."

Two days later, when the two woke, tangled up in Peyton's small Los Angeles apartment, they didn't want the sun to rise. They thought that they would have more time, but there were classes and brothers and nephews to get back to, and Peyton had her job to focus on.

"I don't want this to end." she says, still resting her head on his chest, loving the closeness they had shared for years, even when they claimed to be just friends.

"Well I told you that I could stay here."

"No... you have your book, and Nathan and Haley need you to help with Jamie. You have to go back, and I'll just count down the days until I get to see you again."

"Just 30, right?"

"I booked my flight last night when I couldn't sleep and you were snoring."

"I do not snore!"

All she did was quirk an eyebrow in his direction as he then resigned to the fact that maybe... just maybe he snored. Then he leaned down to kiss her, and the accusation went away.

"30 Days..." he says.

"Long days..."

–

So, those of you that are following my other fic, I hope you enjoy this one too. This whole idea came to me one night when I was running and watching "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" from season 5 (LOVE it) and thought that they both could have used another chance to talk it out before he left.

Anyways, hoping that this is helping you get through the summer.... for those of you that plan on watching Season 7!! Personally I'm not going to partake in that, but to rant a little bit.... it isn't because of the lack of Leyton. Honestly, I was going to watch it next year, because I wanted to show support to Sophia and James and Bethany, and all the other actors that have made the show what it is. That was of course until I saw the Season 6 Finale.... which was a stroke of pure genius on the part of Mark Schwahn, because I was completely satisfied with every single story line and how it was wrapped up. I think he pulled a Baz Luhrman two endings on us knowing that there were going to be some people "jumping ship" after this finale. I am more than happy to refer to it as my series finale because it was written and acted wonderfully. But yeah, I'll still support everything else that they are doing! Yeah....

Anyways...Read and Review the fic.... you know you want to!!!


	2. Tree Hill: The First Time

A month later, Peyton walked off the plane in Tree Hill, North Carolina fully expecting to see her fiance waiting patiently at the gate for her arrival.

Instead she was met by a smiling one and a half year old blond and his squealing mother. "Peyton!!!"

"Haley, what are you doing here? I thought Luke was coming to pick me up!"

"He was, but apparently something went on at school and then something happened with the book, so he called me to come get you."

"Then I guess you'll do!" she says, hugging her friend.

"Gee thanks! I'm sorry I had to bring Jamie along. I couldn't leave him with Nathan and I was running late, so he got to tag along."

"That is totally okay, I haven't seen him in forever... he's so big!" she says, touching his chin ever so slightly, eliciting a smile and giggle from the infant, who immediately put his arms out to her.

She looked at Haley for permission, "He's going to be your nephew, so you can start spoiling him now if you want to."

"That's right!" she says, realizing the family she would gain. "So, come see your Aunt Peyton little man!"

With Jamie on her hip and Haley at her side, the two walked out of the airport and back to Haley's waiting car after what seemed like forever waiting for baggage. It was so long that Jamie had fallen asleep on Peyton's shoulder, with sweet puffs of baby breath hitting her neck to assure her that he was quite content to stay there forever. When she shifted him to get him into his car seat there were a few grunts and whimpers, but he settled in all right.

In that moment Haley chose to give her a proper hug, having missed her friend, and excited about the news that she was soon to be her sister-in-law.

"Congratulations, by the way!" she says, getting in driver's seat.

"Thanks..." Peyton says, blushing.

"We all knew it was going to happen some day soon. I was surprised when Nathan said that he got dropped off at the airport though. Peyton, that boy is so in love with you that he couldn't help himself. Coupled with the fact that Karen sent him the ring, he knew that he was going to ask you. I totally understand where you are coming from with this long engagement though."

"Do you really, or am I being completely irrational about this?"

"No, I get it Peyton. I had the same thoughts after Nathan and I got married and Chris dropped the tour in my lap. I had to see where it could go... and Luke told me everything that happened. You were right to make him talk it out, because the two of you wouldn't have made it on your own. I hate to say it, but you guys are the only people I know that actually need each other to stay afloat."

"You and Nathan..."

"Yeah, we need each other, and I don't know what I would do without him, but you guys are a whole other story. I still can't understand it. The man is my best friend in the whole world though, and I am more than elated that you two finally came to your senses and realized that it was forever."

"Oh, I had that realized a long time ago... it was just the whole idea of getting married so young and not getting to see if I could make it in music, and then later resenting Lucas for it, or him me, that scared the crap out of me."

"Still scared?"

"Nope."

"Then it's right."

"I know."

After the serious business was out of the way, the girls chatted about the nonsense in their lives. Peyton shared stories of all the concerts that she had been to, which definitely brought back memories for Haley, but good ones. Haley shared some funny Jamie stories, being sure to include the Jamie and Luke stories to assure Peyton that Lucas was the perfect father figure.

"So what are we thinking about for the wedding? When, who, where?"

"I haven't really thought that much about it... and I have no clue as to when. I think that we are just going to see where this next year takes us, but I definitely want to get married in Tree Hill, and I want you and Brooke to stand up for me, and I want Jamie to be our little ring bearer, and Lily to be our flower girl. Maybe it could be outside and we could do it some time in the spring, and Brooke can design my dress and the outfits for the kids and you guys' dresses....", she says, suddenly stopping when she realizes that Haley has quite a smirk on her face.

"So you haven't really thought that much about it, huh?"

"Haley... it's Lucas..."

"Peyton, I know... I have watched that boy obsess over your since the 7th grade, so believe me when I say that he probably has it all figured out too."

With that, Peyton just sat back in her seat with a smile on her face, glancing out the window, watching scenery pass by as they made their way to the house.

Once the car pulled into the driveway, it seemed like it hadn't even stopped when Luke tried to open the door on the passenger side where his fiance was sitting, and if the smile on Peyton's face was any indication as to what she was feeling she was ready to jump out of the car the second they turned in.

"Man, you two got it bad" Nathan says, watching his brother and former ex-girlfriend share a few crazy kisses, as he gets his now awake son out of his car seat.

"You get the love of your life every day... I get mine once a month, so you can leave me alone, thank you." Lucas says, taking Peyton's hand and separating from her just long enough to get her bags into the house.

After getting Peyton settled, and they took some time to catch up, the group headed off to Tree Hill, which was just an hour away, to have dinner with Karen and Lily.

Karen was always a great cook, and she insisted that the kids come home at least a couple of times a month for a home cooked meal. She knew that the three were too busy with school and taking care of Jamie to really worry about taking care of themselves, so it gave her peace of mind to know that at least they would get some nourishment during their college years.

Once the meal was done, the boys found their way to the TV, watching whatever basketball game that was on, with Lucas trying to pick up on new plays to try with the team that next year. Haley had insisted that Karen relax as she put Jamie and Lily down, reading them both a story.

Peyton, however, found her doing dishes. So, grabbing a dishtowel, she set to help the older woman clean up.

"I never got to say congratulations to you.", she says with a smile as she watches Peyton take off her engagement ring and place in on the window sill for safe keeping.

Peyton just glances back at her with a blush to her cheek and a smile on her face.

"I was so happy when he told me that he was thinking about asking you, so I couldn't help but send him that ring. I'm sorry if it made him ask a little too soon."

"No! Karen, I love him... and I have wanted to marry him since... for... I want to marry him. And I think that this is just going to make us stronger. And I want you to know that it means so much to me that you would trust me to wear that ring." she replies pointing to the ring that once belonged to the woman she felt was like a mother to her.

"He used to talk about you... even before you knew each other he would tell me when he saw you doing something that he knew the two of you had in common. Then I remember when you finally did start talking and he started playing basketball for The Ravens, and his whole face would light up. And I saw what you did for Brooke... stepping aside even though you felt for him the way you did."

Peyton just stared as she spoke, taking in the words that described everything from she and Lucas' past. Wondering how she could have known what was happening those years ago.

"I'm a mom Peyton, and one day you will see that mom's know everything. Keith and I had a love that was built on the two of us being there for each other through everything. We fought, we were with other people, we watched the other get hurt, and in the end we knew that the two of us we inevitable. You and Lucas are that to each other, and I'm so glad that the two of you are going to be able to have forever what Keith and I had for just a short time..." she says, taking a moment to control the tears that were building in her eyes. "Now, with that said... you take care of my boy, and you take care of that ring, because I want it to see all of the great love stories of our family, okay?"

With a watery smile, Peyton allowed the woman to embrace her, laughing a bit at their sappy girl moments, knowing that there was no better place for her to be.

It seemed like she had just gotten there when Lucas was hugging her at the gate, explaining that he would be in LA in just 29 short days to see her again, and that she was to call him the minute she got home.

"This was nice..."

"Jamie didn't keep you up the whole weekend?"

"Well, he did, but that just gave us more time together, so I'm more than okay with that..." she paused for a moment, taking in the sight of him, smiling back at her. "it really is an amazing thing you are doing Luke... staying with them and helping them take care of Jamie. You know that right?"

"They need me... what else could I do? I love that little boy, and I don't know where I would be if I didn't have Keith with me every step of the way... so that's what I want to be for him."

"Lucky boy..."

"Lucky me... having such an amazing family... yourself included."

"You know that you have me now... you don't have to woo me any more Lucas."

"I know that, but I kind of like doing it anyway."

She smiles, giving him one last kiss, taking her bags and walking towards the door with a promise to be waiting for him in L.A. In a few weeks.

–

Okay, so this was the first of the in Tree Hill moments. I have to say that this story was somewhat inspired by another fic that was about the bedtime conversations of Lucas and Peyton spanning a year. I don't remember the name of the fic, so if you do, please leave it in a review so others can see it, cause it was awesome. Also... there may be some cliché stuff happening, but I kind of want to keep the drama at a minimum with this one, since my other fics are so drama heavy. And this is the first time where I'm writing the whole fic before I start posting any chapters... that way I can actually update it on a regular basis!!!

Anyways, review review review!!


	3. Los Angeles: A Celebration

She was late. She was really late, and as she walked through the doors of LAX to pick up her fiance, she cursed under her breath at the craziness that was this morning.

She got to work flustered because the power had gone out the night before in a storm and she overslept. Then after spilling her coffee down the front of her shirt, she had to stop by the nearest store, which luckily was Clothes Over Bros, which meant free clothes for Peyton. She didn't know how her best friend had managed to climb to the top so quickly and how she had managed to make sure that every one of her shops in L.A. Knew who Peyton Sawyer was. After a quick change in the fitting room, she was off to work where she got yelled at for being late. And the hits kept coming as she was ushered in and out of different places being told to go this way and that, and then just as she was about to leave, John pulls her aside and talks to her about being professional and coming to work on time. Which made her late. Extremely late.

He waited. He waited for a long time, and knew that she would call if she wasn't going to be able to pick him up. He told himself that it was probably just work keeping her busy, so he had gotten out his laptop and started plugging away at the next part of his novel that Lindsay had wanted him to revise a bit. Glancing up every now and then, he had yet to see the whirlwind of blond curls.

He looked up when he heard the quick clicks of heels walking... rather running towards him, and met the frazzled eyes of his soon to be bride. Closing his laptop and slipping it into his carry on, he turns to her and envelops her in a firm embrace.

"You're late..." he says, not meaning to tease, but just stating a fact.

Then she looks at him with tears in her eyes and proceeds to cry. She cries a lot.

After a good twenty minutes of sitting in the airport with his arms around his sobbing fiance, she finally quiets herself. Taking in a few shaky breaths, she looks up at him with red eyes.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"I'm sorry that I said you were late... I didn't mean that..."

She laughs a little bit at how concerned he is that he was the one to upset her and explains to him the day that she had, starting with waking up late and then everything that followed.

"Babe... let's go to dinner. Then we're going to sit around all night and watch movies and eat ice cream... maybe take a nice bath... kiss a while... sound like a plan?"

"Sounds like the best idea you have had in a long time Lucas Scott."

"Well, you look like you need a little relaxation..."

They did just that all evening, ending their evening tangled up in each other as always. Every time was better than the first, and they knew that if that was any indication as to what the rest of their lives was going to be like, they were set.

The next morning, they were jostled out of their sleep by the shrill sound of Peyton's phone. Moaning and mumbling, she reached her body over the sleeping form of her lover and grabbed her phone.

"Peyton Sawyer."

"_Sawyer! I'm glad you're awake. Most young people your age are still sleeping off last night's rendezvous and hangover, so I'm impressed."_

"Did you need something John?"

"_Yes... you actually. I need you to come in for a bit this morning. There are some things that came to pass last night at the clubs that need reworking, and I have a bit of a proposition for you."_

"Well... my fiance is in town, and..."

"_I wouldn't think that you would pick a puppy dog for your fiance, Sawyer. He can stand to be on his own for a little while this morning, can't he?"_

Overhearing all of this, Lucas took the opportunity to kiss Peyton's shoulder, assuring her that he would be okay.

"Are you sure?" she whispers to him, covering the bottom of her phone.

"Yeah, I can work on the editing for the book that I needed to get done this week."

Turning back to the phone, Peyton removes her hand.

"I'll be right in."

"_Great... and Peyton?"_

"Yes?"

"_You pass a Starbucks on your way don't you?"_

"Yes sir."

So just as fast as her weekend was shaping up to be perfect was how fast it was becoming not so perfect after all.

After a few hours of extra sleep, Lucas woke up and found some cereal for breakfast, turning on ESPN to see the game highlights that he missed last night for various wonderful activities. Shortly after that, he opened up his laptop and got to work on his "assignment" from Lindsay.

At about six hours later, he was starting to get annoyed. He wasn't really upset with Peyton, because he knows that she couldn't really help it. That was how you climbed up the ladder, and he knew that, and that was the whole reason why they were waiting to get married. He wanted her to be successful at the thing that she loved. He could write anywhere, and he could coach anywhere, but she needed to be here right now, so he let it pass.

It was nearing eight P.M. When her keys in the lock of her apartment woke him up from his slumber on the sofa. With a glance to the clock he was more than annoyed. That was of course until he saw her face. She was smiling. It was a big smile, and it was a smile that he hadn't seen in a very long time from Peyton Sawyer.

"I got it!" she says, coming into her small living room, sitting on his lap, and giving him a kiss that would be enough to make anybody blush.

"Wow!... what did you get?" he says, laughing.

"Junior A&R!!!!!"

"What?! Peyton that's amazing!! What happened!!"

"Well apparently he finally took a look at the list that I gave him of the bands that I had seen around town. He hadn't believed me when I said that they were going to be huge, but he went out last night to a few places to check a few of the bands out and really liked them. After he did that, he went to the sites and MySpaces that I told him about for each band and realized that I was really onto something with some of them."

"So what does this mean?"

"I don't know! But I did it! I got a major label to look at something other than some blond pop princess with a stupid sitcom background, and got them to see a band with music that could actually do something for people."

All he could do was grab a hold of her and kiss her. He was so happy that she had that spark back. It wasn't like two months ago when they talked about her job. She wasn't going to have to glorify her position anymore, and she was on her way to something great.

When they pulled away from each other, she got up and pulled on his hand. As he stood up, she dragged his lips towards her in a slow, sweet motion.

"Thank you."

"I didn't do it... it was all you Peyton."

"I couldn't have done it without you though."

"Well, I couldn't have done anything without you either, so I guess we're even."

"So...." she says, playing with the hem of his t-shirt, looking up at him with a glimmer in her eye.

"So..." he says, matching the glimmer with his own.

"How do you think we should celebrate?"

"hmmm...do we still have whip cream left over from our ice cream sundaes last night?"

"Lucas Scott!"

"Well you said celebrate... I thought you meant with ice cream!" he says, throwing his hands into the air in a surrendering gesture.

All he gets is a raised eyebrow in return.

That of course is all the encouragement he could ever need as he runs toward her picking her up, and carrying her into the bedroom.

Hours later the two found themselves again in the throes of passion, and with one final scream they collapsed into one another.

"God Luke!" she says, her breathing heavy and her skin damp.

"I didn't think we were going to make up for every day apart in one fell swoop." he replies, laughing.

"That has to be some kind of record..."

"Well seeing as it is five o'clock in the morning and we have yet to actually sleep, I would think you are right Miss Sawyer."

She rolled herself back to him, letting her leg hook in between his, and resting her head on his chest. Playing with the fine hairs there, she looked up at him and smiled.

"What are you thinkin' about?" he asks, catching the smile and look in her eyes.

"How much I'm going to love being married to you...if this..." she says gesturing between the two of them, "is any indication."

"So you're telling me that you are just using me for the sex now?"

"Well you had to find out eventually." she says, obviously trying to get a rise out of him.

They fell into silence as she listened to the beat of his heart beneath her ear and he focused on her steady breathing.

As it was nearing four o'clock, the sun hit the window just right, causing light to flood the bedroom, waking the slumbering pair, who, with a moan opened their eyes.

"Do you have to go?" she says, kissing up his chest, reaching his lips before he could answer.

"I have to, but I don't want to."

"I know... but I'm glad that we got this weekend together."

"I'm glad now, but God only knows what muscles I'm going to be feeling tomorrow."

"YOU? I was the one who was bent... well... you know... if anyone is going to be sore, it's gonna be me."

"Do you always have to one up me Peyton?"

"No. But you love me for it, don't you."

"With all my heart." he says, kissing her one last time before tumbling out of bed and getting into the shower.

As the time got closer for his plane to depart, the space between the two grew smaller, as they inched closer and closer to each other in the side by side chairs. Waiting around for his flight to be called, they caught up on everything that they didn't have a chance to because of choosing other... activities.

"Did you get any work done on the book?"

"Yeah, I finished editing the chapter that Lindsay wanted me to finish."

"Lindsay, huh..."

"Peyton, you've got to be kidding me... really?"

"I don't know. Aside from Haley, she is really the only other woman you seem to be around, and seeing as I'm pretty sure that you and Haley together would cause both of you emotional issues, Lindsay is causing a little bit of a green-eyed monster to rear its ugly head."

"Hey..." he says, grabbing her chin and pulling her lips to his. "there is no one else for me, and you know that. In fact, when you come to Tree Hill next month, why don't we take the shuttle up to New York and you can meet Lindsay, and see that there is absolutely nothing for you to be worried about."

She nods, kissing him in the process, just as she hears his flight being called.

"31 days this time."

"Already have the countdown going..." he says winking at her with his adorably squinty eyes.

"I love you Lucas Scott."

"And I love you Peyton Sawyer, soon to be Scott."

As she watched him walk towards his gate she couldn't help but blush, realizing that the name sounded even better coming from his lips.

–

So, we are three months in.... quite interesting. As a random plug, you all need to download the One Tree Hill podcast... on the 24th of May Hilarie Burton was on and it was a GREAT interview. Also... start following SoGoPro on Twitter to support them!

Anyways, have fun reviewing!!!


	4. Tree Hill: The Other Woman

While she loved that she was going to see her fiance in just a few short minutes, the flight had taken it all out of her. She was tired, and all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch with Lucas, talking to Jamie and Haley and Nathan all night long.

Those plans, however were put away quickly once they got to the house and Lucas told her to get ready.

"What? Why? For what?" she asks, with a bit of a whine in her voice.

"I thought that we would catch the shuttle and meet Lindsay for dinner tonight"

"Luke, seriously? I... I just flew all day long, and my hair is... and... "

"I got us a suite at a hotel downtown so we can have some time alone, away from the prying eyes of our family and the crying sounds of our nephew... and besides...You look beautiful."

She just narrowed her eyes at him, just a tiny bit frustrated that one comment could make everything alright all over again. It was so aggravating sometimes.

"I can call her and cancel if you want. That's okay."

"No. Don't do that. I'll go get ready and we can go to New York. She was expecting us."

She walked past him and into the bathroom to quickly clean herself up and change her clothes. After freshening her makeup she made her way to the living room where her fiance was, with a new blue shirt and a pair of pin striped pants on.

"When did I get so lucky?" he asks as he watches her walk into the room, admiring the way her curls fell around her face with a spring even though she had flown all day.

All she could do was blush, smiling at the compliment, and then walking over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go meet this Lindsay..."

"Peyton..."

"I know, I know... she's your editor... blah blah blah. I'll be nice."

Just a few hours later, they were in New York, putting bags into a hotel room that was a lot larger than either of them expected. "They are paying for it, so I figured that I would splurge a little bit." he says, shrugging a bit at her mouth that hadn't closed since opening the door.

"Who knew that this publishing deal was so hot. You should have quit basketball a long time ago Luke!"

He laughs and moves to pull her to him when his phone rings.

"Lucas Scott" he says, answering, and then putting a quick kiss on Peyton's cheek.

"_Hey Luke! Did you guys get in okay?"_

"Yeah, we did... thanks. What time were we going to be meeting you?"

"_Reservations are in about a half an hour, but I can push it back if you need me to."_

"No, Lindsay, that's fine. We'll be there. Our same place right?" he asks, and Peyton hopes that he doesn't catch her quick head turn at the comment.

"_Yup. I'll be waiting!"_

"Thanks, and I'll see you then."

With that he hung up, explaining to Peyton that the reservations were in just a half hour so they needed to get downstairs so they could hail a cab.

She was already still a bit crabby from the flight this afternoon, and with the cutesy little banter she thought she heard between Lucas and his editor, she was convinced that this wasn't going to be the best of evenings.

Then, as they opened the door to the restaurant, she saw her. Long brown hair, with piercing blue eyes, tall, not too skinny, a killer smile, and everything that she had prayed that the woman he was spending his time with wasn't.

Yeah, this was going to suck.

"Peyton, I'd like you to meet Lindsay Strauss, my new editor." he says, gesturing to Lindsay and putting his hand on the small of Peyton's back.

"Oh my gosh! It is absolutely wonderful to meet you. I feel like I know you already, and Lucas can't ever stop talking about you when we are working, so it is wonderful to finally put a face to _the_ Peyton Sawyer." Lindsay says, a little too excited, opting to loosely hug Peyton instead of going for the casual handshake that Peyton had hoped for.

"ummm... It's nice meeting you too. You sure have Lucas working pretty hard on the book."

"yeah, well, I told him that it would be like we were married... all the long hours and fighting over each passage." she says, patting Lucas' arm as they are waiting to be seated.

Nope. This was a bad idea. By about halfway through the meal Peyton was damn near ready to throw herself across the table and attack the woman, who was openly flirting with her fiance. If it wasn't the doe eyes when he was talking, it was the retelling of a random story about one of their work sessions together, or a casual touch of his arm.

His hand was firmly in Peyton's under the table, but she didn't care... she still didn't like it. Editors were supposed to be old ladies who had nothing better to do than read books for a living, or thirty something year old men who still lived with their mothers. They were not supposed to be attractive, single, women that just happened to be her age.

With a hug for Lucas and for Peyton from the woman, Peyton was glad to get into the cab, and proceeded to not speak the entire way back to the hotel.

"Peyton, what is up? You haven't spoken at all about Lindsay and what you think about her, or about anything we talked about with the book."

"Luke, I'm tired. It has been a long day, and I just want to go to bed." she says, walking past him and into the bathroom after picking up her pajamas along the way.

Later in bed was when he couldn't take it any more. "Peyton, come on. Talk to me."

"Will you just let me sleep?" she says, more annoyed than anything.

"Not until you tell me what is wrong..."

"Lindsay." she says, without any emotion in her voice, just stating it like a fact that he should completely understand.

"Oh come on Peyton, are you serious? I told you that she wasn't anything but my editor."

"But you forgot to include your hot, single editor, who can't seem to keep her hands off of you. I mean God Luke, you're a freaking author now... use an adjective!!" she bites back, turning to face him in bed.

"What?!"

"You've got to be kidding me Lucas? You are seriously going to play dumb about this!?" She says, getting even angrier as he appears to be letting her words just roll off his back. "Luke! If she was this bad when your fiance was there, I don't even want to know what she does during those late night work sessions she seems to be so fond of talking about!"

"She is my editor Peyton, nothing more, and you know that. You are totally overreacting about this whole thing!"

Her mouth gapes open at that, and throwing the covers off, she storms out of the room and into the main area of the suite.

Knowing he should go after her and actually going after her are two different things. He doesn't understand why she could think that he and Lindsay were even close to an item. After about a half hour, he decided that she had probably cooled off enough to go talk to her.

However, when he entered the living space, he found her curled up on the couch fast asleep with dried tear tracks down her cheeks. He knew that part of it was the long day and the flight, and he knew that tomorrow he would have to prove to her that she was the only one for him. For now, all he could think about was how beautiful and fragile she looked, curled up with a few tendrils in her face and her mouth slightly open as if she were sighing.

Scooping her up, he was able to get her at least out of her heels and dress before putting her in bed, and then grabbing a pillow, he took up residence on the couch for the evening.

The next morning, before she even opened her eyes, her arms searched for him, reaching out to his side of the bed but only meeting cool sheets. She knew what happened last night, but with confusion she sat up remembering that she had been the one who fell asleep on the couch.

The first thing that she saw were his feet. They dangled off the side of the couch that was obviously way too short for his taller frame. The blanket he had wrapped around him was also too short and couldn't cover the awkward bend of his neck as he slept. He couldn't have been comfortable, and she knew that it was all her fault. She knew that she had nothing to worry about, and she knew that the distance between them was actually improving, not hurting their relationship. She knew he loved her, and she knew that everything really was going to be okay.

She knelt down beside him, planting a soft kiss to his temple before trying to wake him up, "Lucas..."

His brow furrowed a bit as she called his name again, "Lucas..."

"I'm sorry Peyton." he says, still groggy, and barely opening his eyes.

"No, baby, it was my fault. I didn't mean all that I said... I'm the one who should be sorry."

He had opened his eyes now, looking at her with nothing but adoration, "It was my fault too. I should have told you more about Lindsay, and if you are uncomfortable with her, I can always see if they can give me a new editor."

"No!" she says, moving to sit up on the couch with him, "Luke, she was the one who found it. She found in your book what I knew and your mom knew, and I don't think that you should throw that away. She saw the magic, so you need to keep her on."

"But if you..."

"Lucas, how often am I really going to have to see this woman? I don't hate her... I wish she'd keep her damn hands off my man... but I don't hate her, and I'm only here for a weekend every other month, at least for now. Don't worry about me! You do what is best for you."

"What is best for me is having you happy."

"Well, having you makes me happy, so as long as that works for you, it works for me."

"Can we start the weekend over?"

"and how would you like to start it Mr. Scott."

With a smile, he leans into her, pressing a kiss to her lips and then moving down towards her collarbone as she bends her head to give him better access. "Hey honey, I missed you..."

"God, I missed you too..."

"I got us a suite in New York..." he says, continuing to kiss her, moving the neck of the t-shirt she had put on to the side.

"Really? And why would you do that?" she says, pushing onto his chest and moving to lay beside him.

"I thought that we could use some alone time while you were here."

"Oh, well, what would we do with a hotel room for a weekend?"

"hmm... I think I might have some ideas..."

–

That will probably be it for Man Face, cause let's all be honest... we hate her. Well... I know I hated her, but I don't know about the rest of you. It sure is going to be some good times up ahead though. Does anyone have any predictions that they would like to share with the class??? Anyone?? Bueller???

Review, Predict.... love... hope you enjoyed!


	5. Los Angeles: Thai Food Mishaps

A week!

School was out for a week, and the whole week was going to be devoted to his fiance. He couldn't be happier as he waited at the crowded airport with a bunch of other college aged men and women who were feeling the same excitement that he was.

They had it all planned out and she was able to get a few days off of work. It would be shows and Disney and all those cheesy things that you do when you're in California. Brooke might pop in at the end of the week to say hi. Yes, it was going to be a good week.

He waited.

The week couldn't start until he was picked up from the airport, which is what Peyton was supposed to do. As he looked at his watch he realized that an hour had passed with no call from Peyton. His bags were in his possession, and all he had was a quickly fading grin on his face to keep him company.

Grabbing his cell, he hit the speed dial number that would reach her.

"_Hey, you've reached Peyton Sawyer, aren't you lucky? I'm not here right now, but leave a message and I'll get back. Have a good day."_

"Peyton, hey, it's Luke. I'm starting to freak out a little now that you aren't answering your phone. My plane landed a while ago and I've got my baggage and stuff, so if you are running late, just call and I'll meet you curbside. Talk to you later."

As he hung up he spotted a cafe where he could sit for a few while he waited.

...and waited.

Another half hour went by and he had tried her cell too many times to count, so decided to hail a cab and get to her apartment.

As he made his way up the stairs he was glad that they had exchanged keys for just such an event. Slipping the key into the lock, he found himself running into the apartment in search of his fiance.

"Peyton?" he says getting more worried when he sees all the lights still on and he cell phone sitting on the counter still with a blinking light telling her that she has a missed call.

"Peyton?!" he says loudly again as he opens the bedroom door to find her curled up on the bed.

She turned her head towards the noise, putting a hand up the shield her eyes from the hallway lights, and moaned, "Lucas, why are you waking me...LUCAS!"

Realizing that he was not supposed to be here she sat up with a start and turned to her clock. "When did you get here!?"

"My flight was on time, and I waited, and I tried your cell, but you didn't answer, so I got worried."

"Oh my God, Luke, honey, I'm sorry!"

"Are you okay? You scared the crap out of me Peyton. I thought something had happened when you weren't answering your phone."

"No... I'm fine. I just thought I could catch a quick nap before I had to go pick you up from the airport, but I guess I got a little carried away."

"Well, apparently you needed that nap." he says, pulling her toward him, needing to feel that she was okay. "You can't do that to me again, okay?"

"No, I won't, I'm sorry."

Just then her stomach rumbled, signaling that she needed to get food into her system. "Apparently I'm hungry." she says, laughing.

"That's good, because I am too. Do you want to get stuff from that Thai place that we got from last time?"

"yeah, that sounds really good. Why don't I order and you can get yourself into some comfortable clothes and clean up while we're waiting." she tells him, getting up and walking to the door of the bedroom.

He smiles and starts to make his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower and change clothes when he stops her halfway down the hall, spinning her to face him. "Hey."

"Hey yourself."

"You know that you get me for a whole week, right?" he says, his comment dripping with all sorts of innuendo.

"Oh, yes, and I plan on making the most out of all of that time we have together."

"Really...what kind of plans do you have for me Peyton Sawyer?"

"That is for me to look forward to, and you to find out Lucas Scott." she teases, kissing him lightly and pushing him away and towards the bathroom so she can order the food.

Just 45 minutes later the food had arrived, and in Lucas and Peyton fashion, as Peyton grabbed dishes, Lucas opened up the food, spreading it across the coffee table so they could pick and chose what they liked.

Peyton returned with plates and sat opposite her man, who had immediately started piling food onto his plate. The more he piled, the less she wanted what was in front of her. It looked greasy and runny and gooey and the more she thought about it, the worse the idea of it sounded.

"Peyton, why aren't you..." he starts to say as she gets up and runs down the hall to the bathroom.

After a few minutes of stroking her back and holding onto her hair, Lucas makes a move to grab some water for her, also returning with a wet washcloth.

"Thank you... Honey, I'm sorry."

"It's okay... you are obviously coming down with something, or you've come down with something, cause that was not cool Peyton."

"No, I'm not."

"Peyton, you're ob--"

"So, I'm pregnant..." she says, cutting him off very casually.

He turns to her, with his facial expression still seeming to be in the middle of saying a word, and all she does is smile, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, that would explain the puking." he says, still processing, but choosing to remain calm about the situation.

"Yeah... I thought that part was getting better, but I guess not."

"Gett_ing_ better? How long have you suspected that you..."

"Oh, no... I'm definitely pregnant. I went to the doctor last week." she informs him, and then catching the expression on his face continues, "I realized it right after I got back from Tree Hill, but I kept denying it. And then when it wasn't just me being tired all the time and the morning sickness started, I took a test. Then I went to the doctor and had them check on me, so there is definitely something in there."

"Why--"

"I was so excited to tell you... well, maybe not excited cause I was freaking out, but I really did want to tell you, but that was not something I was going to do over the phone, so I figured that I would wait until I had a doctor confirm it, and then I knew you'd be here in a week."

"You're pregnant?" he questions again, his face finally registering an emotion.

"There's the realization!" she laughs, smiling back at the confused look on his face.

"Oh my God, you're pregnant!" he laughs back at her, letting it really sink in, "and you're not freaking out... I'm freaking out."

"I've had a good few weeks to get used to the idea. However if you would have seen me a few weeks ago, you would have seen a totally different Peyton. I swear that I couldn't form a rational thought for days after I took that test. And then I realized that with you and I, it was never our timing that worked, it was someone else's. So, I figure that while we didn't plan this to happen now, someone up there thought we were ready."

He pulls her in for a kiss, placing a hand to her stomach.

The rest of the evening was spent just as they had planned, curling up on the couch with Lucas finishing up some food, watching a movie, and just loving the fact that they were together. While Peyton had a few weeks to get used to the idea that there was something growing inside her, Lucas still hadn't wrapped his mind around it. Every few moments he would glance in her direction, smiling as he did so. She would catch his eye every now and then when he was caught looking, and she would just smile back, knowing that he was just excited.

"You know, you're going to eventually have to stop staring at me." she says, laughing after catching him yet again.

"It's just..."

"Oh, I know! Trust me on that one, because this baby has made his or her presence known for quite a while for me, making me fall asleep at my desk, not letting me eat anything, making me burst into tears watching freaking commercials."

"Now THAT I would like to see. Peyton Sawyer the hard ass, sobbing like a baby at the hallmark commercials."

"Thanks." she says, narrowing her eyes in his direction.

"I'm just getting used to this... let me have my fun."

"Well, you've got about 8 more months to get used to it, so I'm sure that you'll be fine."

He just smiled, pulling her closer, and settling in to watch the rest of the movie. It was just a few minutes later that he felt Peyton completely relax and give in to the sleep that her body craved so much.

It was the next morning that Luke truly understood the meaning of the term 'Morning sickness', because the second the alarm clock went off, it seemed Peyton was on the floor in the bathroom. Not being able to stand the thought of her being alone and sick, he followed her run, only leaving her side to grab her some water and a wet washcloth.

They sat on the cold tiled floor together until her phone rang from the kitchen counter where it was left the night before. He ran to grab it for her, and glanced at the caller ID before answering.

"Hey Brooke!"

"_Hey Luke, did you get in okay last night? Did you guys get to have a proper reunion?"_

"You know that I'm not going to answer that question, right? What did you need?"

"_Well, I need my best friend so I can talk plans for the end of the week, is she available?"_

"Actually, Peyton isn't--"

"sure she has those days off yet" Peyton says, interrupting what was surely Lucas telling Brooke that she wasn't feeling well and grabbing the phone from her fiance, who gave her a confused look.

"_What!? P. Sawyer, you told me you had everything squared away!"_

"I know honey, and it will probably be totally okay. Worse comes to worse and you could always just keep Luke company, and we can hang out at night."

"_Okay, well, I'll be there on Thursday, and we can party the night away... how does that sound?"_

"Can't wait!" she says, plastering a smile on her face while thinking in her head about how she was going to survive two nights with her best friend when she fell asleep waiting to pick up the love of her life from the airport.

After she hung up the phone, she went in search of Lucas, who had walked away after she had grabbed the phone from him.

"Luke?"

"Yeah... so I'm guessing that Brooke doesn't know then?"

"Well, you guessed right. You and I are the only ones who know about the little Scott down there" she says, rubbing small circles on her stomach.

"I'm just surprised that Brooke doesn't know. The two of you share everything, to the point that it is quite scary, so I can't imagine why you wouldn't tell her."

"Because this complicates everything, and I don't think I'm ready for that. I love this baby, and I love that you are so okay about this, but adding a baby into the mix is going to freak people out and they are going to be freaking even more about the wedding and me moving back to Tree Hill, and everything, so I just want to wait... please?"

"Peyton, they are going to figure it out eventually, you know that right? I mean we can't show up to our wedding with a baby and not have them ask questions."

"I know that, I just want it to be just you and me for a little while. Next month I probably won't be showing at all, and then the next time that we're in Tree Hill together it will be Christmas time, so we can reveal our little present there. How does that sound?"

"You'll be what, 5 months along then?" He asks, doing the calculations in his head.

"Yup, and surely showing, so there won't be a way to hide it anyway."

"You know that regardless of when we tell them, they are all going to freak out."

"Oh, I know that... I just figured that I would wait out the freak out moment."

"Wimp..." he says, trying to poke fun at the situation.

"Ha Ha... do you want to be the one to tell your mom that we aren't married and having a baby, or better yet, you can always call my dad and tell him you got me pregnant before we hit the altar."

"Waiting sounds great to me."

"That's what I thought you'd say."

–

Okay, so that was that. Season six made me a total sap for pregnant Peyton, and I fully and wholeheartedly admit this to each and every one of you. The only thing that I wasn't all about was the pregnancy drama, so none of that in this story. If you want that, you can check out my other two. This one will of course have its drama, but for the most part, I'm keeping it light and fluffy, so let me know what you are thinkin'

I love reviews.... if I could marry one, I think I would. Just letting you know....


	6. Tree Hill: Seeing Their Future

All right, I figured that I would respond to a few people before this... they are going to continue the once a month thing, but things are going to be happening in the future... without giving anything away.

randi-jane, that is the beauty of writing these little one shot fanfics... you have to imagine that peyton was able to convincingly decline Brooke's requests to get wasted, I don't know how she did it, but yeah, she did.

The rest of the group will find out soon, and LEYTONALWAYS and foreverlove23, I can see where you're coming from about Lucas and the pregnancy. Remember that absence makes the heart grow fonder... and what about Peyton... nobody has mentioned how she feels about Lucas not getting to see her pregnancy... hmm... hint?

Here goes!!

--

The next month seemed to have dragged on, and the two were getting even more antsy than usual about seeing each other. The fact that Peyton was pregnant added to that hate of being apart. Even with daily updates, Lucas felt like he was missing out on everything, and the guilt he was feeling about not being able to help her through some of this was just too much.

True to his word, he hadn't told anyone about the pregnancy and knew that she hadn't either. It seemed like a little too much to carry at times though, but he knew that regardless of anything, they should wait a while to tell everyone. Five months into their engagement, and everyone was starting to talk wedding plans for the pair, including Peyton herself.

As he sat in the airport waiting for her flight to arrive, he thought about the logistics of this whole arrangement that they had. The next time she would be in Tree Hill, she would be five months pregnant, and they would be at the seventh month of their engagement. That's December, but so close that we should just figure it to be January. If they waited until the spring like they originally planned she would be... well... ready to pop, right? And that would be nearly a year for their engagement. Just thinking about the whole idea made his head spin.

"Luke?"

"Peyton?" he says, snapping out of his daydream and realizing that Peyton had been standing right in front of him for quite some time.

"Wow!" she says, sitting down next to him, "and I thought _I_ had pregnancy brain. Where were you?"

"I was thinking about you and me and the baby and the wedding and moving and..."

"Woah, baby that is a lot of ands that you just said there."

"If we actually waited the year, then you are going to be popping out the kid while were on the altar, you realize that right?"

"So we wait until after the baby is born."

"In Tree Hill, right?"

"Well..." she says, not really knowing how to respond.

He didn't know exactly what her face was telling him, but he couldn't shake a feeling that she really didn't know what was going to happen in the next few months. That fact made his head spin even more, so instead of greeting her with the standard kiss and "I love you" with confessions of how much he missed her, he stood, grabbed her suitcase, and started walking towards the car.

She knew her lack of a response was something that he didn't appreciate. She was ready to marry him, and she was ready to have this baby with him, but she wasn't ready to give up all that she had worked towards in L.A. She knew that her chances of getting another promotion were slim, especially with the addition of her soon to be ever-expanding waistline. Could you blame her for still trying though? What was he expecting? That she was just going to pick up everything next month and move back to Tree Hill, or in with him and Nathan and Haley? She didn't know what she wanted them to do, and frankly her mind had been swimming too.

When they got back to the house, they sat for a moment in the car, letting the silence continue for a while longer.

She had finally gotten up the courage to start talking when the front door shot open and a running toddler came out with Haley at his heels, and the moment was lost.

The pair put on smiles as they hugged the small Scott family and settled down for dinner that evening. After saying that she had wine on the plane, not an eyebrow was raised when Peyton turned down her drink of the evening. It seemed like they slipped back into things very nicely.

That was always the problem. While her relationship with Lucas was not the easiest of things, it fit her well. Once they finally got it together, it was really perfect. A few fights here and there, and a few dramatic moments. If she was lying to herself she could say that she belonged in Los Angeles, but when being honest, she knew that she belonged in Tree Hill or at least near it. The two of them had their family here, and she couldn't deny that.

"I'm sorry about earlier..." she says, later that evening, just a little above a whisper as they laid down for bed.

"Peyton, where do you see us in the next few months?"

"Honestly, Luke, I don't know. I know that I've really got a chance in LA, but I come here and it fits so perfectly. Being around Nathan and Haley and Jamie, getting to see your mom. It fits. It is where I belong."

"But?"

"But... I want to try to make a name for myself in LA a bit longer. I want to see what I can do."

"We have seven months Peyton, you realize that? Seven months until it isn't just you and me that we have to think about. It's a baby too."

"I know that Luke... believe me, I do... I'm just so scared."

"About us?" he asks, a bit hesitantly.

"No... that's the thing. I see myself with you. I see myself with this baby. I see my whole personal life set out before me, and I love it. It is everything else that is so unclear right now."

"I told you once that you were destined for greatness, and I meant it."

"You have that confidence in me, and I know that, but I need that confidence in me."

"You do realize that we're 19, right? We don't have to be thinking about all of this?"

"We're 19, but we're about to get married and have a child... I think that we have a different situation than most." she says, turning to him with an eyebrow raised.

"A day at a time. Can we just do that?"

"Most definitely." she says, settling into his embrace with a sigh.

"Hi... I missed you..." he says then, leaning down to kiss her.

She giggles, realizing that he is trying to make up for their sad excuse for a greeting earlier at the airport, "I missed you too baby. We both did."

The next morning came faster than they were ready for, and they were awoken by an unlikely source that had mysteriously crept into their room.

"Pey!" Jamie screamed, hitting his soon to be aunt on the shoulder.

She woke up rubbing her eyes, and turned to the small little boy clad in spiderman footie pajamas at her side.

"James Lucas, what are you doing in here?" she says, gliding a finger across his nose.

"Wake up." he says, like she asked the dumbest question in the entire universe.

As she glanced at the clock and noticed that it was certainly not the time to wake up, but the time to sleep in for at least a few more hours, she pulled the little boy down into a hug.

"Sweetness, it is too early... we need to go night night for a little longer."

"Night Night? No Wake Up?" he asks, looking up with big blue eyes.

"No wake up..."

"I stay with you?"

She nods, running fingers through his baby hair, watching his eyes start to droop a little bit more as his breathing became deeper and he drifted back into sleep.

When Haley woke up a few hours later, she woke with a start. Normally Jamie would be in their room an hour ago trying to wake them up. She got up and walked into his bedroom to find it empty, but before panicking checked Lucas' room to see if he was in there.

Of course what she saw was something that she could get very used to seeing. Jamie had curled into Peyton's side and thrown a leg out towards his uncle. Peyton had an arm securely around him and a hand placed gently on his head. She didn't have the heart to wake any of them, so instead crawled back into bed, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

When Lucas woke, he was awarded the same scene as Haley an hour ago. He took it in with such different eyes though, seeing it as their future. A baby flung between them, with Peyton protecting him or her even in her sleep. He knew that she loved Jamie, and she had become such a quick member of the family after they had started dating. That was what he loved the most about her, and he was so glad that his family felt the same way.

Glancing at the clock though, he realized that he really did need to wake up the pair or they weren't going to get to spend as much time in Tree Hill as they had hoped that day.

"Peyton..." he says, whispering and stroking her cheek softly.

"hmmm?"

"We have to get up if we want any time in Tree Hill today."

Still with her eyes closed she stretched out a bit and answered with a soft "okay" and a huff of air.

When she opened her eyes, she met the smiling one of her fiance, who was still allowing himself happiness at the sight of her and his nephew.

She glanced down to the bright blond hair that was resting on her chest and just smiled, turning back to Lucas with the same smile.

"He loves you, you know that?"

"Yeah, and I'm sad that I don't get to spend as much time with him."

"Well, obviously it doesn't phase him, because it's like you never left." he says, laughing at the sight.

"Can we do this?"

"We're going to be awesome at this." he says, sitting up in bed and pulling his nephew up into his arms.

Telling her to get ready, he carried Jamie out and to his room, placing him back into his own toddler bed.

By the time everybody was ready, Jamie was up and talking as much as he could.

The group seemed to make the trip to Tree Hill in record time, and it was almost instantaneously that the women split off into their own little group to talk about wedding plans.

"Lucas and I want to wait until the summer."

"Why not the spring? I thought that you guys said that you wanted to get married in the spring" Haley asks, confused at the change in plans.

"Spring in North Carolina is so unpredictable, and if we did it right after the school year ended then the weather might not be what we want it to be."

"And hurricane season is any better?" Haley counters with her voice dripping of sarcasm.

"We just talked about it last night and thought that it might be better. It will help break up the summer a bit too before you guys go back to school."

"What about you? What are your plans?" Karen asks, the ever concerned mother that she has always been.

"That is something that we still need to talk about. Lucas is still going to be in school, and I need to figure out what exactly I want to do with my LA job and everything."

"You aren't staying out there, are you?"

"No, but I don't know exactly what I want to happen. It is going to be a lot to juggle! That is another reason why we want to wait for the summer, because if I move here in the spring, that will give us enough time to get adjusted to everything."

In true Haley style, she felt the need to point out that when they were seniors and dating they practically lived together anyways, "You know that you are more than welcome to move in the house with us. I don't know what we would have done without Luke here to help us with Jamie, and you know that little boy is in love with his Aunt Peyton"

"Well, the feeling is mutual... even if he wakes me from my much needed slumber at 5 o'clock in the morning."

"Sorry about that."

Before she could think about what she was saying, she casually threw out a, "well, eventually there will be payback for that..."

Thankfully Karen and Haley viewed that as the hopeful bride glancing into her future and not as the pregnant fiance spilling the beans. When she was in LA it was easy to hide the fact that she was pregnant, because everyone knew. That didn't make any sense, but everyone in LA knew, and she didn't have to worry about anyone finding out and telling anyone across the continent about her condition. With Tree Hill, she had a whole other family that was taking everything in, and there were many more opportunities to slip up.

Two days later, they were at the airport again, this time with Haley, Nathan, and Jamie in tow.

"You know how much this sucks?" Nathan says, "now we have to deal with a mopey Lucas for at least a week.

"Shut up... I don't mope."

"Oh, really.... because sitting in your room, playing your Peyton mix and reading your own novel isn't moping?" Haley interjects, laughing at her best friend, while pulling Peyton into a hug.

They hugged, they kissed cheeks and then knew that it was time for Peyton to be off. Haley picked up on the two wanting to have their goodbyes, and directed her family out towards the car.

"So the truth comes out that you can't live without me." she says playfully, putting her arms around his shoulders.

"I could have told you that a while ago Peyton Sawyer.."

"Well, I mope too."

"Really?"

"Don't you ever notice that you have a t-shirt missing every time I leave? I curl up in one, put on all my saddest songs, and let out a good cry."

He takes in this knowledge and chooses to respond by kissing her with wild abandon, not caring that they were in public, just knowing that he wasn't going to see her for another month.

After they separate, she asks, "What's the count?"

"32 days."

"Okay, well I will see you then... me and baby will be waiting patiently for you in 32 days."

"I love you Peyton."

"I love you too Lucas Scott."

With a final kiss and a small rub to Peyton's still flat tummy, he squeezes her hands and turns towards the door as she turns towards her gate.

–

Okay, so what are we thinking so far. I'm kinda enjoying it, but I think that I might be a little biased. I like making a fic with not too much drama and with these little snippets, because the detail doesn't have to be too crazy and it can just focus on the few sweet Leyton fluffy moments....

However, I can't decide what I want to do when the year is up.... What do you think? Should I do another year in the life with another month to month thing? Should I just leave it at the end? Do I need to re ask this question at the end of the fic? Let me know folks!!

Review, cause it makes me happy!!


	7. Los Angeles: The Future's Looking Good

They had decided that Lucas was just going to get himself to her apartment this time around. He opted to leave right after classes on Friday, making his flight arrive in LA later than he knew that Peyton would be able to stay up. That way they would have all of Saturday and Sunday together without any airport interruptions.

It was nearly 10:00PM when the cab dropped him off in front of Peyton's apartment, and excited to see his girl, he hopped up the two flights of stairs with ease, letting himself into the small apartment quietly.

Slowly, he made his way to the bedroom, just turning on the hall light before stepping in, which cast a glow across her sleeping form that allowed him the pleasure of just watching her sleep for a bit. He sat down on the bed, watching her brow knit in sleep at the feeling of someone in her bed.

"Peyton...." he whispered, then watching as a smile came onto her sleepy face.

"Luke... you're here..." she says, glancing up at him with heavy eyes.

"That I am... how are you?"

"We're good." she says, rubbing her small bump under the covers.

"And you're tired?"

"Not anymore.... give me another hour and a half and I'll be tired again, though, trust me."

He laughs a little bit, getting off the bed, "can I grab some food? I'm totally hungry."

"You want cereal or something here, or do you want to go out and grab something?" she asks sitting up in bed, but not moving yet.

"Why don't we go out and grab something... maybe get you some ice cream..."

Her ears perk up at this, his mention of her craving. That has been the one thing that the woman can't get enough of during her pregnancy... ice cream. Since he wasn't in LA to help her with that craving, he would send her a gift card to a new ice cream place each week, with instructions to call him when she went, even if it was 2AM, which it often was.

"Chocolate?" she asks, now standing up, putting on a pair of jeans.

"Anything you and baby...." he trails off as she walks towards him.

She smiles, knowing exactly what caused him to stop his thoughts.

"When did that happen?" he asks, pointing in the vicinity of her stomach.

"Well, when and man and a woman love each other." she starts, and then catching the squinting eyes of Lucas stops, "a week ago. I woke up and it was just there."

He places his hand gently on her stomach, "I bet that was a great realization for you..."

"Surprisingly, after trying on three different outfits that morning with no success, I was still smiling. I was excited that I could actually see what was going on down there. It made it so much more real."

"That it does." he says, still stroking her form, "God, you are beautiful Peyton..."

"I'm glad you still think so."

"I'm positive that I'll always think so."

"Good to know. Now, can we get some ice cream?"

He laughs at this, but is excited that he gets to be there for one of her random cravings.

True to her word, Peyton was passed out on his shoulder sitting on the couch about two hours later. He stayed there for a moment though, taking in her slightly rounded form, his hand wrapped around her waist and settling on her stomach.

It made it all so real in that moment. The combination of his hand's current resting place, the glint of light reflecting off the ring she wore, and the smile on his face solidified it. He was happy. Nothing in the world could make him happier in that moment, and it was glaringly beautiful to him.

Not wanting to wake her, but knowing that she wouldn't get the best rest with her neck at that angle, he slid from under her, taking her up in his arms as he stood. Walking down the short hallway to the bedroom, he flicked off the hall light, letting the streetlights be the only illumination in the small room. Kissing her forehead, he laid her down, taking off her shoes and pulling the covers over her form, and slipped off his own shoes to lay beside her.

They woke the next morning tangled up in each other as always, her head using his chest as a pillow and his hand splayed across her back. As always, they reached for each other then, linking their hands on his chest, with her placing a kiss across each of his knuckles as she looked up at him through still sleepy eyes.

"Good morning."

"Yes, it is..." he says, smiling and taking in the scent of her shampoo.

"What time is it?"

"Close to ten..."

"We have to start getting ready Luke, get up." she tells him, sitting up in bed and pulling him up with her.

"Why do we need to get ready for anything? I thought that you said we didn't have anything planned for this weekend."

"We didn't, until I was able to work in a surprise for you..." she says cryptically, raising a teasing eyebrow in his direction.

"What is this surprise you have planned Miss Sawyer?"

"That, my dear love is for me to know and you to find out."

"I hate it when you do that!" he says, laughing at her words.

"Too bad! Time to get up!"

As she says this, she jumps out of bed, clearly excited to do whatever it is that they were going to do that day. He starts to join her when his whole world seems to stop as she yanks the shirt she has on over her head, leaving her in her bra from last night and a pair of jeans that dip down to her hips, missing the very thing that has his attention.

While looking at the lack of clothing she has in her closet she groans, "Hey, maybe you could come shopping with me for some new clothes this weekend? I'm sick of wearing the same five tops over and over again."

He smiles at her frustration, but still doesn't make a move to change, happy to just watch her for a moment.

"Lucas, did you hear me?" she calls out from inside the closet but still gets no answer, so she looks out at him, "Luke?"

His eyes finally meet hers, "yeah, I heard you."

"Lucas Scott, were you staring at me?" she says playfully.

"Peyton, you are absolutely gorgeous..." he says just above a whisper, which has her moving towards the bed where he sits on the edge.

"Are you sure I'm not just getting fat?"

Tentatively reaching his hand out, he places it just near her belly button and looks up into her eyes, holding her gaze for a moment before he speaks, "Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, you are the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on, and I am so unbelievably lucky that I get to spend the rest of my life with you and that you are having our baby."

Hormones getting the better of her, she just starts to cry, which turns to laughing as she reads the expression of horror cross his face thinking that he said something wrong, "God, Luke, you didn't say anything! It's just the damn hormones again. I got over the morning sickness, but I'm still pathetically emotional."

He stands up then, grabbing her face in his hands, kissing her lips and every other spot that he can reach.

She, in turn, responds to his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, bending hers to give him better access to the spots that he knows drive her wild. And as she reaches down to peel off the shirt he has on, he asks, "How long do we have?"

"About an hour..."

"Good enough for me..." he says, pulling her tighter to him, and turning them so he could gently lay her out on the bed.

Forty five minutes later, the pair was throwing clothes on and trying to make it out the door in one piece, running down the stairs to hail a cab.

As she spit out the address to the driver, Lucas tried again to get out of her where they were headed, "Come on, please?"

"Nope, you'll figure it out when we get there."

"Peyton, you only get to see me once a month, and you're going to keep secrets from me?"

"Yes, I am..." she says, nodding her head and resting back into the seat.

Ten minutes later, they were pulling up in front of a small building located just down the street from Peyton's offices that had no clear signs that Lucas could make any sense of, but had a smell that seemed familiar to him in some way. They got into the elevator to the third floor and Peyton confidently pulled him by the arm toward the closed office door.

When the door opened, and the cool smell of a doctor's office as well as the appearance of a waiting room filled with babies, women, and just a few men, Lucas understood where they were.

"Peyton..." he says, not really believing that they were here.

"I told my doctor that I didn't think it was fair for you to keep missing my appointments, and she decided that she'd get me an extra ultrasound before my twenty weeks... I want you to be here Luke...", she says, playing with the sides of the jacket he wore, and allowing him to pull her in for a kiss.

The receptionist broke them away with a giggle, "Peyton, that is what got you into this mess in the first place... haven't you learned?"

Smiling at Luke, she turned towards the woman, taking the sign in sheet from her hands to let them know that she was here.

"Sit down for a bit and Dr. McCullough will be right with you."

"Okay, thanks Julie." she says, turning back to Lucas and gently pushing him in the direction of a pair of open chairs.

It was only a few minutes of waiting, watching women stroke their tummies and toddlers play with the toy train set that they called her name to come on back.

The doctor was in just a short while later, "Peyton! How are you feeling?"

"I'm hormonal, but good."

"Well, that's as good as we can expect young lady, so I'm happy... and so are you..." she says, indicating Lucas with the tilt of her head.

"Dr. McCullough, this is my fiance..."

"Lucas... it is very nice to meet you, and I'm glad that you were finally able to come catch a glimpse of this baby of yours."

A very green Lucas just attempted to smirk as he took in his surroundings for a minute. It looked like any other doctors office, but there were diagrams of deliveries and models of pregnant women all over the room. One particular poster that caught his attention was that of a cone-like apparatus being attached to a baby's head in something called a vacuum extraction delivery.

"Luke?" Peyton asks, catching the loss of color in his face.

"I'm good..." he says, looking down and pressing his lips together in a thin line.

"It's the pictures, isn't it?" the Doctor asks, grinning a little bit as he nods. "I think that we partly do that to scare the young teenagers out of having sex.."

"I think it'd work..." he says with an uncomfortable laugh.

"Lucas... give me a minute here, and I will have you thinking about nothing but that baby in there in no time." she says, patting his shoulder and telling Peyton to lift up her shirt and unbutton her pants so she could get the doppler on the baby.

As she glided the wand across Peyton's stomach, searching for their little one, he couldn't breath. He was literally frozen as he held his breath and watched the screen in front of him, convinced that even if they did see the baby he would have no idea what he was looking at. Finally, it was clear as day, a tiny little head and arms and legs, and... it was perfect.

"There you have it, kids... here's baby Scott."

Peyton was still overwhelmed by the sight, letting the tears fall easily as she watched the screen, seeing the baby move his or her arms every now and then.

"Oh my gosh... that is the... that's... wow." Lucas says, trying to come up with a description for even a tiny bit of how he felt.

The doctor turns to him laughing, "Peyton says you're an author... kind of hard to believe now...."

She waits for a moment, checking different things as they stare on at the baby, "Now, I have two very important questions for the two of you... one being, would you like to hear the heartbeat?, and two being would you like to know the sex?"

"You can tell?" Peyton asks.

"I'm pretty sure that I can see what I need to be able to tell you."

"Luke?" Peyton asks, looking up at him as he nods his head up and down, "Yeah, we want to know..."

"All right..." the Doctor says, moving the wand around for another angle, just trying to catch what she was seeing one more time, "There we go... do you see those three lines?"

The couple squint at the screen, trying to see what she's pointing at, but failing miserably, and answering "No."

"Well, trust me... they're there..."

"and that means?" Lucas asks impatiently.

"That the two of you are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl."

"A girl..." Peyton says, looking at the screen and back to Luke.

He smiles for a minute, and then looks at the screen again frowning, "Oh God... if she is half as cute as you were, I'm going to have to board up the doors when she's a teenager."

Peyton laughs, hitting his stomach with a playful swat. "She's going to be fine..."

"Can we hear the heartbeat too?"

With a smile, the Doctor turns to the machine, flipping a switch and letting the sound of the baby's heart reach the rest of the room.

"Sounds nice and healthy."

And with that, the couple got to hear what they really needed to hear, which was that the baby was perfectly healthy. Peyton was instructed to come back in another three weeks for her twenty week checkup and the couple was back to their weekend.

"So... a little girl, huh?"

"Yup."

"You realize that the family is going to spoil her like crazy..."

"The family! You realize that Brooke is going to go insane when she finds out that I'm pregnant, let alone that it's a girl."

"True..." he laughs at the statement, knowing full well that Peyton was spot on when it came to the craziness that was her best friend.

Then, as usual, the weekend flew by. Shopping for Peyton, shopping for the baby, and looking around at cribs and things for wherever the nursery would be took up most of the weekend for the excited expected parents. But Peyton was now the happy owner of more than five tops and a bunch of pants that she could actually wear in public and to work, and the baby now had enough clothing to last the first month of her life without having to do laundry. And they were happy.

"So..."

"Christmas."

"Yup... only 27 days this time." Peyton says, smiling up at him.

"And we're going to tell everyone then?"

"It will be the most talked about Christmas present of the year."

"I can't wait to see their faces..."

"It will be one for the books, that's for sure." she says a little uncertain.

"What?" he asks, picking up on her hesitation.

"I'm just... you don't think they're going to be mad, do you?"

"No... the last time you were in Tree Hill, you were only like three months pregnant, and that was too early to tell them, and I wasn't about to tell them without you there, and I know how much you want Brooke to be there when we tell the family too."

"You're right."

"I know."

She puts a hand flat on his chest and another on her stomach, leaning in to kiss his lips ever so softly, "We are going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too, don't you worry."

Stepping back from him, she reaches in her purse, pulling out a small folder and handing it to him.

"What is it?" he asks, and then starts to open it as she remains quiet.

Opening the envelop, he finds three copies of the ultrasound photos that they had done yesterday, "Peyton... when did you do this?"

"This morning, while you were still sleeping. I figured that this way, you can have us with you when you go back to Tree Hill."

"I love you, you know that?"

"Oh, I do..." she says finally, pushing him away and towards his gate, memorizing his form once again as she is forced to wait another month. She always reminds herself in these moments though, that what they have is so worth what they are doing now, and then she smiles.

–

Okay, so I realized that he wasn't really getting to be a part of the pregnancy stuff, and that was kind of making me sad, so I fixed it. I hope you like this latest edition of fluff weekly, cause I feel like that's what I'm doing. It's fun though, and wait till next time!! And sorry that it is sooooo long this time... I got a little carried away!

Review review!!


	8. Tree Hill: Cat's Out of the Bag

They were glad that Nathan had decided that they would come down a day later, which meant that Peyton and Lucas had some time to finalize their plans for dropping the bomb on the family.

Keeping with the idea of wanting to tell them all when they were together, they decided that staying at Peyton's old house would be for the best. With Larry coming in at the end of the week, he was the only one who wasn't going to get the big announcement in the group, and Peyton was more than okay with that notion.

The first thing they did when they got back to the house was sleep. Her flight was a long one, and because of some snow delays didn't get in until quite late. So sleep came quickly and they both fell hard, not wanting to ever come out of their new found happy place in Peyton's old bedroom.

"Peyton?" a voice calls out, cutting through the silent room.

"Not yet, Luke" she says, cuddling further into her fiance's embrace.

"Peyton, it's dad."

"Daddy?" she says, opening her eyes and looking towards the door to see her father standing there.

"Come downstairs and I'll get you some coffee... you can tell me about your flight."

Confused that her father was home so early, she wasn't thinking about anything in particular, and as she carefully removed herself from Lucas' arms, she put on a robe and her slippers, and made it downstairs and to the kitchen.

"What are you doing home early?" she says, sitting down at the kitchen table as his back was turned making a fresh pot of coffee.

"Well, don't sound too excited about it!" he replies, moving over to kiss the top of her head.

"No, I am! I am just still half asleep. We didn't get in until really late last night."

"I haven't even been to bed. I got in a few hours ago, and thought better of waking you up then."

"Well thanks for that, but I would probably rather be sleeping..."

"There any food in this place?"

"I have no clue." Peyton says, laughing a bit, "and if there is, I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't be eating it."

He laughs at that, and moves to sit across from her, putting a coffee mug in front of her and one in front of himself. As soon as he sits, she can sense that something is up.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, but I have to tell you something..."

"Okay?"

"I'm selling the house."

Her eyes go wide, and moisten just a bit in the corners, "What? Why?"

"Peyton, nobody is ever here, and nobody is ever going to be here. I might as well just sell it and use the money for rental places if I ever get a significant amount of work off."

"But..."

"But what? You and Luke aren't going to move in here, and I'm only here a few weeks out of the year."

"I just... dad, this house means a lot to me."

"I know that, which is why I'm telling you this now, and which is also why I told you to come stay here during Christmas."

The tears were now flowing steadily down her face. She couldn't think about this right now, not being able to come home. It held so many memories for her, and it was the last piece of her mom that she had. She couldn't let him sell it, but he was right. It wasn't being used. But the idea didn't make her any less upset.

Standing up quickly from the table, she started pacing in the kitchen, not hearing the gasp that came out of her father's throat.

It wasn't until the tears had stopped that she stopped pacing, standing right in front of him. It wasn't until she looked down at him that her eyes went wide with realization. He wasn't staring up at her face anymore, because since she started pacing, his eyes hadn't left the small round stomach that she was now sporting.

"Peyton..."

"I'm pregnant..." she says, smiling down at him like it wasn't a huge thing that she just casually mentioned to her father.

Right as her father responded, "You're pregnant?", a very groggy Lucas Scott walked through the entryway into the kitchen.

Catching that last moment and taking in the shocked look on Larry's face and the unmoving gaze of Peyton, all that Lucas can do is blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, "We were engaged first!"

Larry snapped out of it, looking to Lucas with a smirk on his face, pleased that he could still put a little fear into the young man that was going to be marrying his daughter. "I'm not angry! How could you think that I'd be angry!"

"Because we're so young... and we're not married yet... and Luke is still in school... and I'm out in..."

"Peyton, you're young, but smart. I'm not so ancient to think that the two of you weren't... well... I'm not going to finish that. Luke is still in school, but is also getting his novel published. And the L.A. Situation that I think you were about to mention isn't that bad, and you guys are going to figure it out."

"You're really okay with this?" Peyton asks, with Lucas coming to her side.

"The only thing that I'm not okay with is how long it took you two to tell me! You've got to be at least four months pregnant!"

"Five, actually..."

"Wow..." he says, glancing back down to her stomach as she reaches down to cradle the baby wrapped inside.

"We were planning on telling everyone today during Christmas Eve Dinner, which you are certainly invited to."

"Peyton the second you walk in the door, they're going to see that you're pregnant."

"A well placed sweater and wrap will do wonders... we've tried. But you can't say anything to anybody about it, okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." he says, standing up and kissing her forehead before bending down a bit to touch her stomach with a featherlight rub.

The rest of the family, including Brooke, who made it down from New York for the occasion, was more than happy to have Larry come to Christmas Eve dinner. While Peyton was extremely nervous, her dad and Lucas assured her that nobody could see what they were trying to hide.

It really was a family affair, with some friends as well, taking place at Karen's small Tree Hill home. The kids were bouncing around in their chairs, and even at one and a half picked up on the excitement, and the adults too, were excited at the chance to see each other all together again.

After a wonderful dinner, everyone sat in the living room opening one small present before desert, and when it came to Karen, Lucas stepped in, "Actually, I know what I want you to open mom... hold on..."

Lucas left for the kitchen, and a few seconds later calls out for Peyton to help him as the rest of the family starts back into the loud conversations that they were having before.

Hearing all of them in there made Peyton even more nervous as she took her wrap off and changed into a different sweater that would proudly show the baby bump, "Luke, are you sure that we have to tell them now?"

"Peyton, if we wait until next time you're in Tree Hill, you are going to be seven months pregnant... how do you think that is going to fly with everyone? They're all going to flip that we waited this long as it is!" he says, laughing at the thought of their faces that late in the game.

"I know... do you think they're going to be happy for us?"

"I do."

"All right, you ready?"

"Yup."

No one looked up as they walked back into the room, except for Brooke who has to constantly know everything that is going on. In fact it was she who noticed that Peyton changed shirts, being the fashion designer and having her mind always on clothing. It was also she who noticed _why_ Peyton had changed shirts, "Holy Crap!! You're pregnant!!" she screams.

As loud as the room had been was as quiet as it got the second everyone looked to Brooke and then to who she was staring at.

"Merry Christmas!" Lucas says, breaking the silence.

It seemed like all at once everyone was over to them, asking about due dates, and doctor's appointments, why they kept it a secret for so long. Anything and everything having to do with the pregnancy was covered in the span of fifteen minutes.

Then, aside from a few glances every now and then to Peyton, with a smile, everyone seemed to just accept it. There was no judgment, and everyone was genuinely excited that the couple was going to be parents in a few months. Haley and Brooke started to compete for Godmother, while Nathan and Skills tried to reason why each of them should be Godfather.

Laughing at the idea of fighting over such a thing, Peyton excused herself to go to the bathroom. However, Karen, watching her soon to be daughter-in-law noticed that the blond didn't go into the bathroom, instead stepping out on the back porch.

She gave her just a few minutes to herself before stepping out onto the porch to sit beside her, "Is this seat taken, or can an old Grandma sit here?"

Peyton smiles at that, leaning into the older woman, "There is always a seat for Grandma."

"I think that is the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten."

"Really?" She asks, obviously meaning more than just asking about the Christmas gift.

"I know that you two are young, but you have made this work. And that boy has been in love with you for as long as I can remember."

"I'm glad that you're okay with this."

"Okay? Peyton, I am so happy for you and Lucas!"

Peyton smiles, but then turns again, looking into the night, pulling the blanket she grabbed around her just a little tighter.

"You scared?" Karen asks, sensing that she was thinking a little too hard about something.

"To death..."

"That comes with the territory, kiddo. It also doesn't stop... I admit that when the two of you finally got it together that my worry slowed a bit, but it's still there."

"Yeah..."

"I would do anything to bring your mom back for you Peyton, but I can't do it."

She nods, letting a tear fall, but smiling at the woman's words, so similar to what her son said to her years ago. "I know that."

"But, being a mom, I can say this... she would be so proud of you Peyton, and she is still with you every step of the way. And... I know that I can't replace her, but if you ever need a mom moment, you know that I will be there in a second for you." Karen says, wrapping her arms around the younger woman, letting her have a few moments of tears before mentioning that they should get back inside.

"Yeah...Oh!" she says, her look changing to surprise in just a moment.

"What is it? Are you okay?"

"Yes... no... I don't...I think she just kicked... but I've never..." Peyton says, putting a hand to her stomach, and smiling after just a few minutes, feeling another vibration against her hand. "...wow."

Karen smiles at her, and Peyton grabs her hand, placing it on her stomach over the spot she felt that last kick. Their smiles grew wider when they felt that tiny little flutter against their hands one more time.

Fitting for the moment, Lucas chooses to step out onto the back porch to find his fiance and mother, finding them both in tears on the balcony.

"Okay, please tell me that you are okay."

"We are, come sit for a minute!" Peyton says, grabbing his hand and doing the same as she did for his mother.

"Why am I putting my hand..." he starts, jumping back when he feels the baby kick back at him, "What was that?"

"That, Lucas Scott, is your daughter saying hello..." she says, pulling him in for a kiss.

That was how Karen left the pair that evening, sitting in each other's arms and kissing by the moonlight.

–

Okay, so how did we feel about everyone finding out... and can I just say that I would have LOVED more Karen/Peyton scenes in the actual show, because I have always loved the idea of that relationship. I just wanted you all to know! So yeah... Reviews make me smile!

Oh, and there was a clue in there as well... anybody pick up on something that's going to happen? Hehe.... only a few more months to go...


	9. Los Angeles: Maybe?

He was in a rush, running into the airport out of Nathan's car. The team meeting ran late and speeding the entire way was still leaving him to cut it close to the gate.

"Luke!" he hears someone call out.

Turning around, he was frustrated, thinking about the little time that he had to get to his flight. That was until he saw her, standing in a pale pink sweater, her stomach proudly on display and her face flushed from her obvious running around the airport. She never looked more beautiful.

"Peyton?"

She runs up to him, holding on to him amidst a fury of people trying to go this way and that, "I'm coming home..."

"What? Peyton, what are you doing here? I'm supposed to be..."

"I know! I just... I can't do this anymore. I want you there! I want you to be there to take me on my stupid ice cream cravings, and I want you to tell me how beautiful I am every day even though I feel like I'm the size of a whale, and I want to wake up next to you, and I want to stop missing you!" she says, the tears readily flowing down her face as she lets out the emotions that she has been hiding for some time.

"Slow down, Peyton... It's fine, you're home." he says, leading her to the nearest chairs and dragging both of their bags behind them. "Why didn't you tell me that you were unhappy about all this?"

"Because, I didn't think that I was. Every now and then I would get upset, but after Christmas it just got worse and it made me miss this more, and I just wanted to come home."

"Why didn't you call me?"

She stayed silent for a moment, not knowing exactly what to tell him had transpired in Los Angeles that day before.

"Take me home, and then we can talk about it..."

It was a surprise to him, but Nathan didn't mind turning back around to come pick up his brother and friend, stating that he knew that it was just a matter of time before she was going to end up in Tree Hill for good.

"Shut up, Nathan." Peyton says, rolling her eyes at him in the rearview mirror.

Haley screamed when she looked up from playing with Jamie to see Nathan come back _with_ Lucas, letting out another scream when Peyton was there behind him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I don't know yet..." Peyton says, scrunching up her face.

"Well, are you hungry? Of course you're hungry, you're pregnant!"

"Thank you for that! But, yeah, I'm hungry."

"All right, then we'll need some more food, so I vote pizza for all!" Haley says, throwing the phone at her husband.

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because I want to talk to my soon to be sister-in-law, and I have been here all night playing with _your_ son, who refuses to go to bed, so you can figure it out!"

"Okay, me and Luke will go get the pizza."

As the girls sat down, it all came rushing out.

"What are you doing here? What about your job? I thought that you guys were still going to wait another few months."

"I quit."

"What... Peyton?" Haley says, confused as to why Peyton would quit something that was her dream job since they were in high school.

"John came in the other day and asked me to check out this one new act, and I went along with it, not knowing that she was an absolute bimbo... even worse when you talked to her. So I went around to a new place that I hadn't been to and found someone else. He's a singer/songwriter who blew my mind. Inspiring lyrics, a faithful following from what I could see, and when I spoke to him, he actually had a brain."

"So ten times better than bimbo chick, then?"

"Yes... but do you know which one John still wanted me to pursue?"

"Bimbo chick?"

"Yes!" she says, standing up and frustrated. "I can't believe that he would pass up this other guy, and it pissed me off. Then he goes into this massive speech about how I don't know anything about the music business, and this girl is what the music business is about. And then I got upset and told him that isn't how it is supposed to be, and..." she stops, getting a few tears in her eyes.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to be bad?"

"...and then he just called me a hormonal pregnant woman. Which at first made me upset, because yes... I am hormonal and pregnant. Then it pissed me off."

"And a pissed off, hormonal Peyton is really not something that you want to cross in any way."

"I slapped him."

"WHAT!" Haley says laughing nearly uncontrollably.

Sitting down with a huff, Peyton puts her feet up on the coffee table and waits for Haley to stop with the laughter for a moment. "Well, he deserved it..."

Of course that led to more laughing, which was contagious, because then Peyton started to laugh along with her, finally realizing how stupid it all was for her to do.

And this is how Nathan and Lucas found their respective others, in a fit of giggles on the couch with tears streaming down their faces.

"What is so funny?" Lucas asks, putting the pizza down in front of the girls.

Peyton then wipes her eyes, and looks up at Lucas with a look that he certainly couldn't describe, "I quit my job... and I slapped my boss..."

"WHAT?"

"He deserved it!" she jokingly screams back at him as she and Haley still let out a few giggles. "I realized that if I want to do this, then I'm going to do this the right way. I'm going to get a business degree, and I'm going to come into the music business my own way. Maybe start my own label or something like that. I can't be working for a major label who only cares about the bra size of whatever bimbo they have at the microphone."

"Okay." Luke says, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"We'll figure this out, right?" she says, turning and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, we will."

"Good, cause I don't want to talk about this any more... and me and baby want some pizza."

They spend the rest of the evening talking about their situation, trying to figure out the best way to get all of Peyton's stuff back from Los Angeles, trying to figure out where they were going to stay once the baby came in just a few short months.

Then there was that whole idea of a wedding.

"You know that Brooke is still planning a wedding for us, right?" she says as they lay in bed that night.

"That certainly doesn't surprise me."

"I don't want to get married until after the baby is born though, Luke. I don't want to be huge on my wedding day."

"I will do whatever you want me to do. I just want you to be happy. Okay?"

"Yeah."

"And next time you decide to go around hitting guys and flying across the country, please let me know first! What if I would have gotten on that plane, Peyton?"

"I was waiting for you at the gate, you couldn't have gotten past me." she says as if it isn't a big deal.

"Beside the point."

"I know, I'm sorry. It just didn't hit me all the time. One minute I was fine and I was thinking that we were okay with everything, and that I was okay with you not really being there for most of the pregnancy. I really was okay with it, Luke." she says, turning to face him and attempt to rest her head on his chest. "And then there were times when I would wake up in the middle of the night cause she was doing somersaults down there, or when I hear some ridiculous suggestion for a baby name, and I would want you there with me."

"Well, I'm glad that you chose to come out here."

"Really?"

"I was having the same issues that you were... I missed you, Peyton."

"What are we going to do, Lucas??"

"You can go to school here... after stuff with the baby settles down. Maybe on the days that we don't have anyone to watch her, we can meet my mom halfway and she can have her for the day, or something like that."

"Okay, but where are we going to live, Lucas?"

"That, I haven't figured out yet."

"Maybe we could just wait a little while longer, you know?"

"Peyton, this decision kind of has a deadline, in case you haven't noticed..."

"Oh really? THAT is why my pants don't fit anymore!" she says, laughing and try to be as sarcastic as possible. "Lucas, I get it, but maybe we should focus on you finishing this year of school, and maybe we can talk Nathan and Haley into all of us staying here for a little bit."

"Two kids under the age of two and four adults? You really think that's a wise idea?"

"I never got to have that big family, Luke, and neither did you. If Nathan and Haley go for it, it could be perfect."

"Okay, I'm all for that, but after the summer, what is going to happen, Peyton? I just accepted a coaching job for next season."

"I know that you did, but by the time school starts the baby is only going to be like three months old. Maybe that's too soon for me to go back to school. Two of us in school?"

"You're forgetting that by the time the baby is born, my book will hopefully be getting us some income as well. That is if it doesn't totally tank."

"It won't, Lucas, I know that it won't."

"Then--"

"Can we just cross that road when we come to it?"

"Okay..." he says, letting her rest her head on his chest, and resting his hand on her stomach. "You weren't joking about the somersaults."

"Yeah, its her latest plan... gymnastics to keep mommy up in the middle of the night."

"Well, let's see if I can help that." he says, scooting down so he could talk to her stomach.

After a few minutes of silly conversation and Peyton's laughter, it got more sentimental, with Lucas sharing stories with her stomach. Soon after he began the story of how they finally got their act together, he looked up to see Peyton fast asleep, and feel that the baby's somersaults had turned into gentle kicks every now and then.

He was too wired to sleep though, and opted to go into the kitchen for a later night snack, finding his brother sitting up as well.

"Can't sleep?"

"Nope, you?"

"Nah... it's weird cause it was a long day, but I can't let the head fall asleep."

"What's racking your brain?"

"You and Peyton can stay here, you know that, right?"

"What?" he says, wondering how he knew about that conversation.

"Haley and I talked about it after you guys went to bed. You can stay here as long as you like. We've got the room and Jamie and little girl Scott can share a bedroom for a few years if need be. We'd like you guys to stay."

"Really?"

"Luke, we grew up with such screwed up family situations... you, me, Peyton... this seems right."

"Did you ever think?" Lucas asks, referring to the situation that the men were in.

"Never in a million years."

"The girl I thought I could never have, the girl that was WAY too good for you, and two kids?"

"I'm gonna let that comment slide just because you're still in shock that Peyton flew back out here, but yeah, I get it."

"I think we're going to stay for a while."

"I think you can stay as long as you'd like. You helped us out so much with Jamie, and we want to help you and Peyton as much as we can too."

"Thanks Nate." he says, grabbing a glass of water and walking back towards the bedroom.

"Hey Luke?" Nathan calls after him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad we got our heads out of our asses and stopped hating each other."

"Yeah, that was probably a good idea."

–

Okay, I know that everybody hates me... I'm trying to update fics now, because I feel SOOOO bad for being so absent these past few weeks. So, this weekend the goal is to make up for all of it, and write updates to all fics, and in some cases, more than one!!!

Love me... don't Hate... and REVIEW!!!


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